Spencer Gowrie, 87, is running
a temporary water taxi service to the Thimble Islands after the See Ferry, B4 regular ferry service unexpectedly shut down. (Peter Casolino/Register)

BRANFORD -- For the first time in 150 years or so, the 60 to 70 families who live on the Thimble Islands for the summer have been without regular ferry service.

The operator of the ferry from the Stony Creek dock for seven years, captain Mike Infantino, sold the service and the boat, which holds about 25 people, to a new guy in March to concentrate on his Sea Mist Thimble Island tours.

The new operator, William Bussmann, operated it for a couple of months. Then he decided it wasn't for him, shutting down "abruptly," as several islanders termed it, in late May.

Since then, islanders, through the Thimble Islands Association, have been working to try to reach a short-term solution, said Charlie Goetsch, a member of the committee that's been working on it.

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And now it looks like they have found a short-term answer. For the remainder of the summer, former operator Bob Milne will run a boat that holds six people, Goetsch said. The boat could be in service as early as Tuesday, said Spencer Gowrie, who said he will be one of the boat's skippers.

In recent months, the only way to the mainland for those who don't own boats has been an informal service that islander Gowrie, 87, has provided in his own Boston Whaler.

Luckily for the rest of the islanders, Gowrie, who piloted the ferry for the first time when he was 18 and was one of the captains for Bussmann, Infantino and Milne, happens to hold a Coast Guard 100-ton boat captain's license.

For the past few weeks, he has been showing up at the dock every hour on the hour during limited hours to see if anyone needs a ride.

It's something he said he does for free, although both Gowrie and Goetsch said islanders who might otherwise be stranded have shown their appreciation in various ways, including by buying some of his tanks of gas.

"Yeah, I'm trying to help out, using my own boat," said Gowrie. "It upsets a lot of people. I get a lot of calls asking me to take people to particular islands at a particular time, and I'm available to do that."

Goetsch said the Thimble Islands Association has a meeting July 31 and coming up with a long-term solution is "front and center."

In the meantime, the short-term solution this summer calls for interested islanders to make a voluntary $100 contribution to the association to subsidize the ferry. That will entitle them to be on a list for $5 ferry trips each way. For people not on the list, the cost will be $10 each way, Goetsch said.

He said the short-term plan is "not ideal," but is better than having no service.

Bussmann, who lives in Madison, has an unlisted number and could not be contacted.

Gowrie, who spends the summer on Money Island and also has a house on the edge of Stony Creek, said that Bussmann didn't tell him that he was going to cease the ferry service, or why.

"I guess it turned out not to be as lucrative as he thought it would be. But I really don't think he gave it much of a chance," he said. In any case, "we didn't have any discussions about it."

Goetsch, a lawyer in New Haven who has a house on High Island that has been in his family for generations, said while it's true that many islanders have boats, those that do have them still rely on the ferry to bring visitors and supplies.

"Many people don't have a boat at all," Goetsch said. "It is a very real problem.

"If you don't have a boat with a slip in Stony Creek, then you don't have transportation back and forth to the islands and that's not only you, but if you have guests or workmen, you're stranded. ... It goes to your ability to use the island."

On a recent day, as a number of islanders, many with their own boats, came down to the Stony Creek waterfront to head out for the weekend, several said even islanders who own boats are affected.

Gerard Petrofsky, who lives on Money Island, was loading his bicycle onto his own boat, but said the lack of ferry service affected him July 4 when he had his annual party for 25 to 40 people. Normally, "they all take the ferry," but this year he had to make several trips to pick them all up, he said.

"We miss our ferry boat. We need our ferry boat," he said. "It's been running for decades and decades and everybody's used it."